Tonbridge Invicta Under 16's v Kemsing United

BLATANT BIAS!

KEMSING UNITED 3 TONBRIDGE INVICTA 2

11.05.03

Let's not kid ourselves we did not play well in the first half of this end of season friendly, and we only started to play to our potential in the last 20 minutes or so. BUT, and it's a big but, the referee in this game was appalling. His blatant bias towards his own team made it extremely difficult for us and was frankly a health and safety risk to our players.

We did have one quite serious injury to Jamie Hayes, but it could have been more, as he openly ignored and thereby condoned challenges by Kemsing players where they time and again led with their arms and elbows. This is not to mention the countless pushes, pulls and body checks that went unpunished.

As so often we were slow to start and Kemsing were clearly very up for this game. One cannot doubt their appetite for success and throughout the game they won a lot of the 50-50 balls, but they were clearly confident that they had "carte blanche" to win the ball by whatever means they felt fit. Consequently they exerted pressure from the first whistle. We seemed to be dealing with it and getting back into the game when they scored. A well struck shot from the edge of our box left Ben Fitzer with no chance.

For the remainder of the half we battled against our indifferent form on the day and the referee. We should have taken a couple of chances, but we went in at the break still 1-0 down. A worrying injury to Jamie Hayes' eye left him unable to play any further part in the game after being on the pitch for about a minute. He was head-butted in an aggressive aerial challenge. It may have been an accident, but it was certainly a foul. The referee gave nothing and Jamie ended up going to hospital as a precautionary measure.

We started the second half with more intent and for a while a goal looked highly likely. We were beginning to pass the ball well and use the flanks. Somehow that final touch eluded us. Then disaster struck. Aaron Medgett was unbelievably penalised for a clever bit of shielding of the ball. There was absolutely no foul, but the referee gave a free kick and they scored as a result of it.

At 2-0 down it took us a while to get back our dominance of the half, but we did, and at last we found the back of the net. A Neil Wilson shot was deflected and Jason Carroll was on hand to drive the ball home. We thought we were well and truly back in the game, when suddenly Kemsing got a break and scored with a stunning left foot strike. It was cruel.

Still we pressed. Numerous chances went begging, and their goalkeeper made some blinding saves, one in particular from a great Neil Wilson left foot strike. Very late on we got a second when Andrew Jarrett met a Dan Howse corner with his head and gave the keeper no chance.

In the dying seconds we created opportunities but it was not to be. A draw would have been a reasonable result but in view of the cheating that was going on justice should have seen us come away with a victory.

There does seem to be precious little justice in football today!

Nonetheless, as we have seen so often this season, we have got to learn to be more aggressive in the challenge ourselves. Not unfairly so, but definitely we need to develop the physical side of our game within the laws of the game.